When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college – that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, ‘You mean they forget?’ (Howard Ikemoto) Most of us have…
Using storytelling to communicate a business idea A timely short piece for people who are thinking about how to sell their new idea/plan to staff, boards or stakeholders. Five ways to get buy-in for your creative ideas As we look to welcome people to our buildings there are lots of ideas circulating about how we…
We are all faced with another period of transition. Shortly, doors will reopen and ‘live’ programmes will restart. There are still no guarantees, and if you’re anything like me, being among lots of people is both a delight and a bit bewildering at the moment. I have been wondering about the implications of this strange…
Writing women back into the history of science The inspiring story of historian Margaret Rossiter and her work in telling the hidden history of the contribution of women to science. It is important to note early that women’s historically subordinate ‘place’ in science (and thus their invisibility to even experienced historians of science) was not a…
Creativity in a restricted regime: a guide for prison staff The National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance has produced a great short guide which also reminded me that lockdown means quite different things if you are in prison. Funding participatory work in the US and UK A thought provoking blog by Arlene Goldbard drawing on her…
Putting people with lived experience at the heart of what we do Thought provoking blog piece and report. I am very struck by the point: Avoid rewriting people’s words or speaking for them Chairing Through Covid The Association of Chairs have just released a timely report tracking the experiences of Chairs over the last year.…
The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist A video from Art 21 documenting Michael Rakowitz’s continuing project in which artefacts looted from his mother’s homeland, Iraq, are reborn as colourful ‘ghosts’. A powerful contribution to the ongoing debates around the relationships between world museums and empire. Learning through play is not just for children With 50%…
Some of us have been fortunate to recently take a short breather. I don’t know about you but it has felt like the last twelve months suddenly concertinaed in on themselves and there was a real need to pause. I am conscious as lock down eases we are moving into yet another phase of change…
Many people are racing towards a business planning deadline, either to meet a funder’s requirements or because we will shortly be moving into a new financial year. Here’s a very quick checklist to help fine tune the final elements: The Executive Summary: does it genuinely give a good overview of your strategy and approach? If…
Three great pieces of research came out this week on what the pandemic is teaching us and its longer term impacts. Great material for anyone looking at their longer term plans. Post Pandemic Places New research from Demos looks at the place based opportunities of remote working and flexible The COVID Decade: understanding the long-term…
It’s an anniversary like no other for a year like no other. If this had been a scenario in one of my futures workshops two years ago, I suspect we might all have thought it fanciful and overly apocalyptic! Like everyone I spent much of yesterday reflecting on what I have been through personally, and…
Respond, recover, reset: the voluntary sector and COVID-19 NCVO, Sheffield Hallam and Nottingham Trent have just released the latest instalment in their ongoing research which includes lots of good insights into how the voluntary sector is being impacted and changed. The future of giving – and what have we learned during the pandemic? New research…
Given that there is ‘nothing is as practical as a good theory’ (Kurt Lewin) we thought it might be helpful to round off our current foray into re-thinking teamwork with a few of the more common models that have been developed to help explore team effectiveness. We are not suggesting that these are perfect, by…